This photo wasn't quite the right fit in the magazine, so this post gives us a chance to show you John Caraccio (left in this photo), the World Gym Taiwan president, and Michael Sanciprian (right in this photo), the CEO of World Gym Taiwan, in a promotional shot. This post also gives us a chance to use one of the headlines we kicked around in our headline meeting. (Gym World—World Gym—get it?)

Together, Caraccio and Sanciprian have built a combined 15 World Gyms in Taiwan and hope for many more in the near future. We first heard about them nearly two years ago. It's nice we finally got around to reporting about their success.

We would have liked to have included updated statistics of the global health club industry in the article, but the 2010 IHRSA Global Report had not yet been released—until yesterday. According to statistics from IHRSA, the number of clubs and members increased from 2008 to 2009, but overall international revenue decreased by about $1 billion during that time span. European clubs had the biggest drop-off in revenue, from $33.2 billion in 2008 to $31.3 billion in 2009, according to IHRSA.

What are your thoughts about running clubs overseas? Is this a good opportunity for U.S. club operators or a sign that we are lagging here in the States?